Umid Babek Operating Co. (UBOC), a unit of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), has let a high-pressure high temperature (HPHT) subsea riser contract to Aquaterra Energy for the BX-01 exploration well on the Babek project offshore Azerbaijan.
The Umid-Babek block lies in a deepwater area of the Azerbaijani Caspian Sea, around 46 miles from Baku. Reserves at Babek are estimated at around 400 bcm of gas and 80 million tonnes of condensate.
Aquaterra will provide end-to-end managed service and deliver a 15,000-psi fully independent riser system and connector which will be operated via a jack-up MODU in 62 m of water. The system’s quick connectors will provide UBOC with crucial gas tight metal-to-metal seals and a back-up elastomeric seal. In addition, the ability to pressure test each connection upon make-up provides enhanced environmental reassurance against well bore fluid discharge, and gives assurance of connector integrity prior to running, according to the service provider.
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).